Running on Empty
by ValFish
Summary: The sole survivor of Vault 111 is on a mission to find her son with minimal distractions, but in a wasteland in desprate need of, well, everything, she's finding it hard to commit to one path. Eventual F!SS/MacCready
1. Paradise

Chapter 1: Paradise

There was nothing kind about the wasteland. Whipping winds, radiation storms, rain that didn't let up until you were soaked to your bones, not to mention the monstrosities that lurked in the shadows, waiting to rip any unsuspecting bastard to shreds. Raiders hopped up on chems covered the streets of Boston, and would shoot you on sight as soon as look at you, and that was if you were lucky. Compared to the wastes, the few secure settlements were paradise, but even they couldn't block out the revenge Mother Nature had taken on the ravaged Earth, and every poor soul unlucky enough to have been born paid the price.

It was more than that for her, being the sole survivor of a nuclear Armageddon. She _remembered_. Verity closed her eyes and listened to the rain hitting the dilapidated roof above her, thankful for small miracles as she huddled under a spot that was intact enough to keep her dry. The rain was always hard because if she listened long enough, she could almost imagine she was at home, sitting on the couch with a cup of tea in her hands, waiting patiently for her son to wake up from his afternoon nap, before she remembered she wasn't. This wasn't home. This was Hell.

The first few days out of the vault had just been one thing after another. As if witnessing the murder of her husband, kidnapping of her son, and the realization that the world had ended 200 years ago wasn't enough, she had been thrown headfirst into the fire as soon as she walked into Concord, her only weapon a scavenged 10mm pistol she'd taken off of the skeletal remains of a vault security officer. She hadn't had to shoot anything before that. The only real threat to her had come when one of those giant roaches in the vault had nipped at her knees before she could smash it with a baton, but as disgusting as the bugs were, they paled in comparison to the maniacs behind her. Verity figured she must have looked ridiculous, bug guts in her hair, being chased into Concord by switchblade-wielding psychos in nothing more than a pristine vault suit and brand-new boots, but apparently she seemed put-together enough to warrant immediate trust from the last standing Minuteman, who, after some yelling back and forth, let her take cover inside a ruined museum.

It had been a quick lesson in Wasteland morals and ethics when she joined the man, Preston Garvey, up on the balcony after some quick introductions and watched the people who'd been chasing her (he called them 'raiders') attempt to storm the building. Verity wasn't a good shot, by any stretch, and at first the killing made her feel sick, but under the circumstances, she thought she did well. Squeezing the trigger again and again, trying not to flinch at the sound. Mostly she'd done it to avoid going up to the roof to get the suit of power armor Garvey had suggested she use and still feel useful. It was stupid, really, but seeing the vertibird up there only made her think of Nate, and Shaun, and all the terrible things that seemed to have happened in the last 24 hours/210 years, and she was sure if she really started thinking about it all she would be good for would be an exhibit as the world's oldest crying heap.

Verity was knocked out of her comfort zone, however, when what she could only describe then as a monster emerged from the sewers. It looked like something out of an old horror flick, with horns and long, twisting claws on top of massive fingers and it was all she could do not to faint. But with a surge of courage, and some minor, slightly desperate encouragement from Garvey, she dashed through the ruined building to the roof, suddenly wishing it was Nate who had survived instead because she didn't know how to use anything and the monster roaming the streets, a deathclaw, Garvey called it, was going to eat her and their son would be alone.

After several attempts to rip the minigun from the downed bird on her own, Verity gave up and taking the fusion core reluctantly from her pocket, powered up the power armor. She had seen Nate do it once, a long time ago in Alaska, and she hoped that whatever muscle memory was left would do the trick. It did, and she climbed inside, wincing as the cold metal enveloped her.

Even in a suit that was as close to indestructible as it could get, Verity felt strangely vulnerable as she clumsily stomped over to the gun and pulled as hard as she could. After that it was only a matter of pulling the trigger and aiming in the vague direction of the beast from her perch on the roof. It took all her ammo and what seemed like hours of pure terror, but the deathclaw finally fell and she exited her armor to put six more shots from her 10mm in its head, just to be safe.

Garvey and the other settlers had seemed impressed with her performance, and invited her to join them at Sanctuary, and it was all she could do to accept their thanks before barreling down the road to the nearest trashcan and puking her guts up.

That had been ten days ago, and she had been terrified to leave the remains of her house since. Sanctuary had become anything but, all ruined by 200 years of decay and destruction, but it was still home, and truth be told Verity was afraid of seeing what the rest of the city had become. Garvey had tried to persuade her to come out on multiple occasions, and the dog, Dogmeat, had whined at her door, but to no avail.

Looking outside, she was suddenly aware she hadn't spoken to anybody in close to three days. She'd heard Garvey, of course, his boots crunching leaves as he walked to her doorstep and paced there for a moment before continuing on his rounds around the settlement. She almost wished he'd knocked today, because in a haze of alcohol and loneliness, she'd had a sudden glimpse of courage and decided finding Shaun was more important than dealing with the apocalypse or a new sense of suicidal ideation.

With that she made a decision and marched out into the rain and across the street to knock on the door of the other house. There was barking before Garvey answered, gun drawn, but lowered his weapon instantly and ushered her inside.

"Wow, I didn't think we'd be seeing you for a while," he said, leaning the laser musket against the splintered door frame.

"Oh?" she countered, trying her best to sound casual and not like she hadn't just broken her days of silence by barging in uninvited at two in the morning.

"Yeah, you just kind of disappeared there. We thought you wanted to be left alone."

She sighed, giving up the rouse. "Yeah, I just, uh, needed some time."

He still seemed unsure, but let it go. "Do you need anything?"

"Nope, just checking on everyone, you know, it's been a couple of days and-"

He cut her off. "It's okay if you're lonely," he said gently.

A lifetime ago she would have snapped at him, defended herself, told him that just because she was alone sure as shit didn't mean she was lonely, because for God's sake Nate would be home soon and it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself. But instead she held back the denial and her tongue and nodded, slumping onto the flithy couch in the center of the room and idly patting Dogmeat on the head.

"Listen, everyone else is asleep but I'm going to take a watch if you're interested. You seem pretty handy with a pistol."

Verity smiled half-heartedly. "Sure, I guess it beats doing nothing."

They both walked out into the rain minutes later, Dogmeat trotting behind happily, down to the bridge into the neighborhood.

"I was thinking we should build some turrets over here," Garvey said.

She only nodded and they spent the rest of the night in relative silence, save for the couple of mole rats they'd had to shoot, though she could tell he was dying for her to tell him anything.

Verity had decided that her origin was a whole other subject she wasn't sure she wanted to breach. Aside from the few yes and no questions she had answered for the settlers initially, no one knew anything about her. She hadn't even told them her name. It was also difficult to think of a way to bring up her situation without sounding completely insane.

How would she even start that conversation? _Oh hey guys, Sanctuary is nice, isn't it? By the way, I used to live here with my family but I've been frozen in a vault for the last 200 years and now I'm on the hunt for the psycho who shot my husband in cold blood and kidnapped my son. Weather's been just great, huh?_

In the end, the awkward silence won out and she found herself talking before she could stop herself. "I used to live here."

Garvey looked surprised. "Really, I thought this place had been abandoned since the war?"

"Yeah well, it was before that."

Now he was really surprised. "You mean like, before, before?" he said carefully.

She nodded. "You were right about the vault."

"So what are you then, some kind of good-looking ghoul?"

It was her turn to be confused. "A what now?

"A ghoul, you know, people who were exposed to massive amounts of radiation- you know what, never mind. So you're over 200 years old?"

She smiled a little at how he tripped over his words. "Well I've been frozen for most of it, but yes."

"Wow, that's, uh, wow."

"Yeah."

There was a long pause before she spoke again. "I need to find my son," she said quietly.

"Any leads?" Garvey offered.

She looked down at her boots. "Not yet. But it's a big Commonwealth, there's got to be information out there."

He didn't answer, but instead looked at her in a way that made Verity think he was finally going to start asking questions.

"Speaking of which, I know you've got a lot on your plate, but I was wondering if you might be able to help me out," Garvey said.

She surprised herself when she didn't hesitate. "Sure, what is it?"

"I need to rebuild the minutemen. I want to make us great again, something the people can count on when they need it. But I've got to get these people set up here, I owe it to them after everything they've been through."

"And that's where I come in?"

"There's a settlement, a little east of here, they asked the Minutemen for help, but I don't want to leave Sanctuary defenseless-"

She cut him off. "So you want me to take care of it?"

"Pretty much, yeah. I can give you some more ammo and if you talk to Sturges maybe we can give your suit a little more protection, too. I know it's asking a lot, but it'd mean a lot to me."

"What about the rest of the Minutemen?"

Preston was silent, a somber look rolling across his dark features.

 _Oh_. She thought about the body she'd taken a laser musket from in Concord.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't realize."

Preston brushed it off. "Don't worry about it. I, uh, just don't really want to talk about it."

Verity dropped the subject. "I'll do it," she said, suddenly unsure of her own voice. What the hell did she know about combat? The likelihood that she'd die in a firefight was astronomical, which on second thought, was almost appealing. _Well, I guess I can't exactly call my therapist._

Garvey didn't notice her turmoil and had a blissfully hopeful smile creeping across his face as they shook on it. "Well I'll be dammed."

Verity looked at him in confusion and then turned her attention to the sun, which was just starting to rise over the bridge.

 _What have I done_?

* * *

Hey there! I don't really know what to start this AN with, but I used to be a really active writer on here and I missed it so here I am in Fallout 4 hell. I have no idea where this story is going, so please bear with me. I'll probably figure it out. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Running To

"I don't think I ever got your name," Garvey said, as the two of them hammered away at what would hopefully turn out to be a fairly impressive guard tower.

Verity smiled. "You're right. How rude of me. You can call me V."

It was something she had been thinking about ever since she'd left the vault and realized her old life was gone. Her name was something she felt she could keep sacred, and maybe by doing that all of Verity's weakness could become V's strength.

"Just a letter?" he joked, "Well, V, good to meet you. I've been meaning to really tell you thanks, you really saved our asses back in Concord."

"It was nothing, Garvey," V said.

"You _can_ call me Preston, you know. I think a shared near death experience kind of puts us on a first name basis."

It was V's turn to laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Not every day you almost get mauled by- what did you call those things? Deathclaws?"

He nodded.

"Well, it least it isn't for me anyway," she finished.

Preston put down his hammer and wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but the Commonwealth is a dangerous place."

"You can say that again," she agreed, reaching down to her hip to brush the 10mm that hadn't left her side. It had a holster now, thanks to Preston and Sturges, who showed her how to outfit herself a little better to roam out in the wastes. She also had leather arm guards now, too, and a chest plate that had a lot of tiny pockets for ammo and storage. The harness around her thigh had a pouch too, that she filled to capacity with whatever stimpaks they could find.

She and Preston had made plans to see to minutemen business tomorrow morning. He was going to walk with her to the edge of Sanctuary, but when it came to getting to Tenpines Bluff farther north, she was on her own.

V tried to pretend she wasn't nervous about being on her own, but with the way they all looked at her, even Marcy, she knew she wasn't hiding it very well.

Later that night, Mama Murphy sat her down in front of the cooking fire and told her something else that had put her even more on edge.

V had never been one to believe in all that psychic mumbo-jumbo, and especially not a jet-induced 'sight' that came from a questionably sane old lady, but she was also desperate for information on her son, and the way Mama had talked about Diamond City made her almost believe she might find answers there.

That was mostly why she had volunteered to take first watch. Just to think a little. It was also a little bit of an ego boost, too, standing on top of the tower she and Preston had built in only a matter of hours with scrap they'd found around the neighborhood. She'd asked Preston to leave her old house alone for now, though, and he got a sad look in his eyes that made her blood boil when he'd told her 'of course' in a pitying voice.

She hated the way everyone in their little settlement looked at her after she'd told them her story. The pitying looks from Preston, Mama Murphy shaking her head, the way Jun always started his sentences with "I know I'm not the only one here who's lost someone" knowing full well he meant her. It felt selfish at times, to be the only one who seemed to be allowed to talk about their past life without someone else chiming in about how that was "all in the past now". V almost wished she could just sit everyone down in a circle and go one by one so that they could triage the tragedies appropriately and maybe get off her back about it. There was a bitterness sinking into her skin, and she could feel it when her new friends looked at her. She needed to get out.

Preston had taken her out earlier in the week to go hunting and help her with her shooting, which she desperately needed if she wanted to make it anywhere in the wastes, let alone Diamond City, which lay in what Preston could only describe as a raider-infested hellhole. That had led to a conversation about the other atrocities of the wasteland, including super mutants, and between their description and the two-headed deer she was looking at, V had almost lost her lunch, _again_.

At the very least she could say that she had become a lot better with her pistol, and even better with the hunting rifle they'd found lying near a particularly ripe raider corpse. The rifle had next to no ammo left so it had basically been designated the guard tower weapon, mostly to scare off people looking for an easy target, though V found herself almost wishing she could take it with her.

The rest of her watch went off without any threats, and V found that it actually had made her twitchier as she tried to sleep on her cot. She'd decided to stay in her house away from everyone else for the time being, and as she tossed and turned she was sure the others would have been grateful for her decision before sleep finally came to her.

* * *

 _It'll be easy, just don't think about it,_ was all that seemed to replay in her head the next morning as she walked out of Sanctuary with Preston, armed with a baseball bat, a loaded 10mm and nerves V hoped would hold up under pressure. Preston seemed to sense her unease and did his best to smile reassuringly, but V began to wonder if that the job was so easy, why he'd sent her to do it. Surely she could look after Sanctuary just as well as he could?

"I know I'm still asking a lot," Preston said as they stopped just short of the creek, "but I know you'll do a great job, and if this goes well, hopefully we'll have more support for the minutemen."

V could only nod as she tried to hold back her nervousness.

Preston gave her a pat on the arm and then turned to leave. "I'll see you soon."

She swallowed hard and looked at the location again on her pip-boy map. The computer, though a little bulky at times, had come in pretty handy so far. She hadn't thought much of it when she'd taken it off the skeleton in the vault, if only because she had been desperate to try anything after trying and failing many times to get the vault door open.

V shivered, thinking of her husband's metal tomb and continued down the road towards the settlement.

It was quiet, for a while, nothing more than the occasional bird or soft steps of a radstag, and V found herself pretending to be Verity again, hair all done up, wearing a pretty dress, just talking a nice walk. Though she couldn't remember when the last time, if ever, she'd just up and decided to go traipsing through the woods alone at six in the morning, it was comforting to know that aside from the hideously mutated animals, the woods around Boston hadn't changed much.

But, as she was learning all too quickly, getting deep into thought while walking alone was dangerous, and she found herself face to face with a bloodbug. The first thing she did was scream, and in hindsight, opening her mouth around a creature that had a tendency to shoot irradiated blood at you wasn't the brightest moment she'd ever had. The taste was disgusting and metallic, with the familiar burn of radiation that she had come to expect from eating just about anything in the wastes.

Still sputtering, she reached for the bat across her shoulders and gave the bug a few good whacks before it finally went down. It was still twitching as it lay on the ground, so for good measure V stepped on it, and instantly regretted her decision as its insides coated her boot.

"Fantastic," she grumbled under her breath, holstering her bat and wiping off the worst of the carnage on a nearby rock.

Fortunately she could see a little house in the distance, what she assumed must have been the settlement Preston had been talking about, Tenpines Bluff.

She almost laughed at how ridiculous the name sounded. What had probably once belonged to some fancy gated community was now a label for what was literally not much more than a shack.

More than anything, V was just happy to see other people that, so far, had no intention of killing her.

A man in dirty jeans and a plaid shirt approached her as she walked down the hill into the settlement.

"Did the minutemen send you?" he called hopefully.

V smiled as she jogged her way down to meet him. "Of course. What seems to be the trouble?"

The man looked visibly relieved. "I thought you guys weren't coming, thank God."

Her smile got tighter as she listened to the man go on about how the minutemen were barely more than an urban legend these days and that settlements in the commonwealth didn't last long without them anymore. She did her best not to betray her aching body to her host, but she got the feeling he sensed she was tired and wrapped things up.

"Well, I know you didn't come here for a history lesson. We could sure use your help."

"That's what I'm here for," V said, hoping that if nothing else she'd be offered a chair for the next story.

"Come on inside and I'll tell you all about it. I shot a radstag earlier this morning, and I'm sure you're probably hungry." He motioned for her to follow him into the little shack and V was pleasantly surprised at how homey it was.

He directed her to one of the chairs sat around a little table shoved against the wall and soon after a woman came inside with a plate of steaks that had V's mouth watering before she realized it.

Her hosts were incredibly kind, and she was almost sad to leave them when they had finished their meal.

"I'll be off then," she said, downing the rest of her water and getting up from the table, "anything else I should know?"

The man shook his head. "Like I said, it's just a bunch of raiders holed up in the old Corvega Assembly plant."

V thanked both of them and made her way out into the forest, armed and ready.

* * *

 _We could never afford a Corvega_ , V thought as the plant came into view. She'd looked at them, sure, but with her home with Shaun and only Nate's salary, there was no way. She and Nate had barely had enough money to settle in Sanctuary Hills, though she'd done her best to make sure the neighbors didn't know that. V supposed they'd never really had the chance to do much actual snooping, as they'd only lived there for a couple of months before the bombs fell.

It seemed silly to want after cars, and even sillier now that every one she'd passed so far had been not much more than a rusted-out frame, and with a last lingering thought she walked into the open.

Nothing happened at first, and for a moment V wondered if the settler she'd talked to even knew for sure when their assailants were coming from. That illusion was shattered, however, when a bullet whizzed past her ear and she hit the deck, rolling to miss yet another shot.

V fumbled for her 10mm and when she finally got it out of the holster, three raiders were all marching towards her. She squeezed the trigger, hitting one of the men in the shoulder and the other in the thigh. _Non-vital areas, great_.

She dived behind the wall of the plant for cover as the raiders, even angrier now, took aim, but it was too late. There was a burning sensation in her calf and she dragged herself further into cover to take a look at the wound.

The bullet had ripped straight through the vault suit, and was now lodged just above her ankle. _I haven't even been here five minutes and I've already gotten shot. Perfect._

V knew it was idiotic to stimpak a bullet wound that still held a bullet, but she didn't have any tweezers and she wasn't too keen on reaching her filthy hands into her own leg to dig out the slug.

She cursed under her breath as she injected the stimpak and shook her head, making a silent reminder to look for any kind of medical tools to get at the bullet later.

The pain was still pretty bad when she stood up, there being a foreign object sealed into her leg, but V managed and hobbled to look around the corner.

"Where'd that little bitch go?" one of them yelled, just as she spotted V.

"Damn it," V mumbled, aiming her gun as best she could and putting a pretty well-aimed bullet into the raider's chest. The woman stumbled, grappling at her bleeding wound before falling over, but even still it was one down two to go.

She used the temporary distraction of their comrade dying to shoot the remaining two raiders, and it took a whole clip and a lot of running, but they were both finally down. V jogged to their bodies, checking to be sure they were dead first, and then taking anything useful she could carry off of them and moving to the door of the building.

"Here goes nothing," she said quietly, taking a deep breath and pushing the door open.

Where she had received a quiet welcome outside, inside the building it was not the case. Two raiders, both huge and armed with tire irons looked almost surprised to see her before growling and running towards her. V quickly grabbed her bat and hit one at the knees to bring her down before putting two bullets in her skull before the other could turn her brains into wall art.

"You killed her!" The man yelled, and V stumbled back as he waved the iron around madly. Disturbing from even far away, raiders were even more disgusting up close, and she could see rotted holes where teeth should be and others filed down into fangs as he yelled.

V swung her bat up to block his swing, and watched in horror as the bat cracked under the pressure. The raider smiled ferociously and went in for another hit as V grappled for her pistol, but stopped mid swing as he noticed the bullet she fired into his stomach. V grabbed the tire iron from his hands and while he went to cover the bullet hole, she smashed his head open like an over-ripe pumpkin, doing her best not to throw up when brain matter went everywhere.

After that the rest of the building had been mildly easier. Maybe it was a taste for blood, or a passion to find her son, but V took down raider after raider, even making a couple of successful headshots before she ran out of ammo and had to switch to bashing heads with her tire iron. Morbidly satisfied and only a little more worse wear with two more bullet holes, she stopped inside one of the offices above the assembly line and began to treat her wounds.

There was no maybe about it anymore. V was going to find her son, and anyone that got in her way had it coming.

* * *

Hey there! I know it's slow going so far, but I'm definitely going to be picking up the pace in the next chapter because let's face it, the first couple of quests you have to do can be boring as hell. Anyway thanks for reading and a special shoutout to anybody that favorited or followed!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Running At

After the particularly unpleasant task of cutting a bullet out of her own leg and stitching up another wound in her shoulder when she ran out of stims, V was ready to sleep. She fought her drooping eyelids for hours on her way back to Sanctuary, and she could honestly say that if anything had come out of hiding in the night to kill her, she would have accepted death with open arms rather than walk one more step.

The high from her battle with the raiders had worn off hours ago, but she pressed on, stopping only to briefly inform the settlers in Tenpines Bluff that their problems had been taken care of. They begged her to stay the night, noting that the Commonwealth wasn't safe after dark, and V had a hard time keeping back a sarcastic remark.

The Commonwealth, as it turned out, was always unsafe, dark or not. V could have counted the number of major injuries she'd ever had on one hand before she'd stepped out of the vault, but now everywhere where she turned it seemed like something was there to shoot her, and they seemed to all be good shots.

And besides that, V wouldn't have given up a night on her cot in her own little house for anything, especially not a floor in the middle of nowhere with people she barely knew.

So she politely declined their offer, after which they insisted on at least paying her 100 or so bottlecaps (which her new friends back in Sanctuary had failed to mention was the new law of the land in currency) and vouching their support for the minutemen.

Now on the road again, V held back actual tears as the bridge into Sanctuary came into view. She could also see Preston up on the guard tower, laser musket at the ready, lit only by one small lantern. It was all V could do to hope that he wasn't going to shoot, but her fears were calmed when he lowered the rifle and hopped over the banister to meet her.

"You made it!" He said joyfully. "And in one piece, too?"

"Surprised?" V joked wearily.

Preston's expression was suddenly more serious. "If I didn't think you were capable, I wouldn't have sent you out there, I promise."

V almost argued, but caught herself and put her bad mood to the fact she hadn't had a good night's sleep in weeks. She settled on a somewhat forced "I know" and walked back with him to her house, where they said their goodnights.

Sleep was too inviting and she barely make an effort to take off her armor as she stumbled towards her bed, falling asleep with her gun still at her hip and the buckles over her forearm still clutched in her hand.

The next morning V felt like she'd been hit by a car. _More like a semi, actually,_ she thought as she attempted to move.

It had taken everything she had just to sit up in bed, the wounds from yesterday's fight screaming in protest the whole time. She made a mental note to ask about stimpaks the next time she saw Preston, but at the rate she was moving, V didn't know if that would be today or next century.

Thankfully Preston, the worrier he was, knocked on the door five minutes later and V called out a strained "come in", surprised her voice was still in working order.

"You holding up okay?" He asked from the doorway.

V, still covered in blood, and dirt and all of her armor stared at him in quiet discontent. "Just peachy."

Preston laughed. "Yeah, I remember those days. You'll get used to it eventually."

V grumbled a quick "yeah, right" under her breath and stood up.

 _Bad idea_.

If Preston hadn't lunged forward and caught her, V would have hit the ground as she tried to put weight on her bum leg.

"Damn, if you're really that tired," Preston said, helping her back to bed, "maybe you should just stay in bed today."

"It's not that," V said, swatting his hand away as he hovered. "I got shot in the leg and had to dig a bullet out and stitch it up myself. I'm way out of practice, I probably didn't do that great of a job."

She knew she hadn't, in fact, since the office she stopped in was dimly lit and it was all she could do not to pass out from the pain of it all. The stitches were messy and uneven, and only sanitized by a half-empty bottle of Vodka she'd found lying around, not to mention the scalpel she'd found in a centuries old first-aid kit that might have had _some_ rust.

"I also ran out of stims," she said, somewhat sheepishly. "Guess I'm not as qualified as you thought."

"Why didn't you say so?" Preston said, an amused looking crossing his features. "We spent a good part of yesterday trying to restock up on our chems, we made plenty, all you have to do is ask."

V at least had the good sense to blush. "Uh, thanks."

"Come on, let's get you over to the other house and I'll show you the stockpile," he said, slipping one of her arms onto his shoulder. "It's pretty impressive. Apparently Mama used to be with some kind of chem lord, but uh, I wouldn't ask."

V shifted her arm and winced. "Wasn't gonna."

The walk across the street seemed like a hike up a mountain, but it was well worth the reward thanks to the nearly-instant relief of a much-needed stimpak.

She stretched out in the chair she was currently sat in and stared out the window, trying not to turn it into one of her 'moping days' where the only thing she could do was stare at her wedding ring and wonder if it would have been better if she'd died with Nate.

It didn't help her forget that Codsworth, their Mr. Handy bot, floated around the neighborhood, idly trimming long-dead bushes and humming to himself. V felt a little guilty for not spending more time with him, but it was painful to look at anything from her old life.

She must have been lost in thought for a little longer than she planned, because when she looked down the dog, Dogmeat, was pawing at her leg, teddy bear in his mouth.

V chuckled and took the stuffed toy to throw it for him. If anything had to remain pure in the wasteland, she was glad it was dogs.

* * *

Three days later when she finally felt ready for the next step of her journey, V made plans to leave Sanctuary for Diamond City with Preston. She had been surprised when the minuteman had offered his companionship at first, but then less surprised when he followed it up with asking another huge favor. To make a long story short, she was now the General of the minutemen. Which, to her knowledge, consisted of only Preston.

It seemed a little ridiculous, but letting him down in such a sincere request wasn't an option and she accepted happily. Mostly she was glad to have someone watching her back. More importantly, someone who knew the city.

When the bombs fell she and Nate hadn't been living in Boston long. After he was discharged from the Army, they'd considered long and hard about where they wanted to really start their lives, since so far their married life had been marred by war and they'd barely lived together in their shoddy DC apartment for more than weeks at a time after Nate had been deployed again.

It was Nate who suggested Boston. A new start, he called it. They were going have to move anyway, they had a baby on the way and somehow being crammed into a one bedroom apartment with an infant had no appeal. Besides, neither of them loved DC with any passion, and the stress of city living had taken its toll on them both. He'd also been the one to find Sanctuary Hills, just two months before Shaun was born. It was expensive, and they couldn't really afford it, but it was a great neighborhood to raise a family in and as soon as they both started working they could make it work.

Everything thing about her old life seemed so trivial now. The Verity that had once spent so much time dusting and cleaning and wishing her life was more exciting had been so stupid to get worked up over anything. She was so lucky for what she had.

V found herself lost in thought again, but snapped out of it quickly when they came to the bridge leading into downtown Boston. It had been a long day already, especially trying through parts of College Square, but she'd made it clear to Preston they weren't stopping before Diamond City.

"I know you want to get there fast, but it can get pretty nasty up in the ruins so we should probably take a little break," Preston said, already taking off his pack and setting it down on the remains of a tree trunk.

V followed suit, heaving off the backpack she'd found and setting it on the ground.

"How far is Diamond City?" She asked after taking a generous gulp of purified water.

Preston shrugged. "It's pretty far into the city, but it's easy to find. I guess it used to be some kind of stadium."

"Wait, Diamond City is Fenway Park?"

He looked at her strangely. "I don't know. Maybe?"

V sighed. She'd only ever been to one game there with Nate, but something about knowing baseball was dead made her sad. "Have you been there before?" she asked.

"Oh sure, lots of times. Everyone in the Commonwealth has for the most part. It's the safest settlement there is, and the biggest."

"Are there others like it?"

"Like Diamond City?"

She nodded.

"Not really. Like I said, it's the biggest. There's Goodneighbor, I guess, but you don't want to go there if you don't have to," he answered, taking the water when she offered it.

V frowned. "Why is that?"

He took a long sip before he answered. "Well I'm sure there were bad parts of town back before the bombs fell, right? Think of it like a sleazy alleyway, only a lot bigger and with way more chems."

V stood up. "We should get going."

Preston agreed. "I should warn you though, keep your gun out. Once we get close Diamond City security will take care of things, but there's a little ways between us and them."

They packed up quickly and started across the bridge. Part of it was submerged and though she wasn't particularly happy about having to get her boots wet, Preston had insisted the intact bridge parallel to them was always crawling with raiders.

The wet boots also made it difficult to walk quietly, they found, and soon enough they'd attracted several raiders waving tire irons.

It was easy work for Preston, who jumped up onto a shipping container and took them down mainly by himself as V stumbled to reload her 10mm. She'd always been able to pride herself on steady hands, but there was something so chilling about the way the raiders laughed that it made her shake like a leaf.

"We've got to get you a better gun," Preston said as he went through the pockets of one of the raiders after their small battle. "Or at least one you can reload quickly."

She stared down at the pistol. She'd almost become attached to it in the weeks since she'd picked it up out of the vault. "Yeah, probably," she said sadly.

Preston noticed her forlorn look and corrected his response. "Or, I think there's a guy in Diamond City that does gun mods, maybe we can really pimp that thing out."

That made V smile. "Thanks, that'd be great. It's a little silly, but I feel like it's an old friend now."

Preston patted his laser musket. "I know the feeling."

They continued on into the city without too much trouble, only running into a pack of feral dogs just outside the entrance, which, just as Preston had said, Diamond City security had helped take care of.

V almost had to laugh when she first spotted them. The guards seemed to be armored in what looked like a modified umpire's uniform, helmet and all. She guessed to the people of the city it didn't look ridiculous at all, but she had a hard time taking orders from guards basically playing dress-up.

There was nothing to laugh about in the fortification department though, even as they got closer turrets lined the streets and there were guard posts everywhere. Even better the entrance to Fenway had been covered with a huge yellow security door, which V guessed was the only way in or out.

Another woman was standing outside next to the intercom as she and Preston approached, clad in a red coat and hat with a little note in it that said 'press'. From the terror that V had seen so far in the wasteland the idea of anyone having a newspaper seemed laughable, though as they got close enough to really hear the conversation the woman was having, V realized it wasn't a joke.

"…the article you wrote was all lies. It's got the city in a tizzy, Miss Piper," the man on the intercom said.

The woman, apparently Piper, didn't take this too well and began yelling into the intercom again, waving her hands wildly. "I know you can hear me in there, Danny, I know it!"

V could tell Preston was about to ask what the trouble was when Piper motioned her over.

"You, you want in, right?" she asked, her voice hushed and a far cry from the previous shrieking.

V nodded. "Yeah, definitely."

A sly smile broke out on Piper's face. "Play along, then."

Piper moved back over toward the intercom and resumed her previous volume. "Oh, what's that you say? You're a trader up from Quincy and you have enough supplies to keep the general store stocked for a month? You hear that Danny? I sure wouldn't want to be the one who has to deal with crazy Myrna when she finds out that you turned away a trader like this!"

There was a pause before the man on the intercom finally gave in. "Fine. I'm opening the gate."

Piper smiled devilishly. "Better head inside quick before they shut the gate again."

"Lead the way," V said, shrugging in Preston's direction.

He seemed to echo her sentiments and they both followed Piper into the ticket area.

There was a man inside one of the booths, Danny, she guessed, who looked somewhat dejected, and another man wearing a dirty suit and a bowler hat standing at the entrance.

"I told him to keep the gate shut!" The suited man shouted. "Your paper has been spreading ridiculous lies!"

Piper rolled her eyes. "Really? What about freedom of the press?"

The man seemed to sputter and before he could answer Piper interjected again. "You, what do you think?" she said, gesturing to V.

V shrugged. "I've always believed in freedom of the press."

"It's one of the foundations of a free society," Preston agreed.

The man seemed to compose himself almost immediately and introduced himself as the mayor. "I didn't mean to drag you into this, you definitely look like Diamond City material!"

V looked down at her vault suit, which was filthy and had several bullet holes in it. "Uh huh," she said, raising her eyebrows at him.

This didn't seem to fluster McDonough, who continued. "Now is there something specific you're here for?"

"Not really, just thought I'd come see 'the great green jewel of the commonweath' for myself," V lied.

"Well if you do need help, don't expect anything from Diamond City security," Piper said, still glaring at McDonough.

He matched her gaze. "Consider you and that sister of yours on thin ice," he said, giving one final glare to Piper and waking away.

It didn't faze Piper too much, obviously, and she mocked him a little more until he was out of sight.

"Hey, come by my paper sometime, I've got a story in mind I think you'd be perfect for," Piper said.

V grinned. "Sure."

Piper gave a small salute and retreated up the stairs into the city.

V then turned to Preston. "You ready to see 'the great green jewel of the commonwealth'?"

Preston laughed. "Let's go before they kick us out, General."

With that they started up the stairs and, V hoped, into a place that would finally have some answers.

* * *

AN: Hey there! So I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I just wanted to make note that I am definitely going to be paraphrasing when it comes to the in-game dialogue, as you may have noticed with Piper's little scene. I just find it way easier to write. I'm also going to be making a point to try and update every other day, but we'll see how it goes. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and a big thanks to anyone who reviewed, followed, or favorited!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 Running For

Diamond City was breathtaking. Not in a particularly beautiful way, due in part that from what she could see, it was filthy, but after seeing so much ruin, V was taken aback at how much society was still left after the bombs.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Preston said, nudging her with his elbow. "Makes you wonder if rebuilding civilization is possible after all."

V nodded. "Yeah. It's great."

They walked down the stairs past the stands to the center of town, where there was a strange structure that seemed to host some kind of bar underneath called 'Power Noodles', if the neon sign was right.

Preston walked right up to the bartender and then turned to her. "I could go for a drink after today, you want one?"

She shook her head. "I'm ok, thanks."

Preston shrugged. "Suit yourself. Bartender!"

V didn't hear the rest of the conversation, as she sat on a nearby stool and stared up into the stands of the stadium. It was getting dark, and the stadium lights had come on, illuminating the field like some strange artificial moonlight.

"Brought you some noodles," Preston said, sliding into the seat next to her and putting down two bowls. "Turns out that robot only understands noodle orders."

V laughed a little. "That's okay. As long as these aren't Blamco-flavored I think I'll be alright."

Blamco! Mac-n-Cheese was the only thing they'd seemed to be able to find in the past few weeks back at Sanctuary, aside from the occasional animal Preston shot. Sturges had insisted they all pitch in planting crops, so they'd have vegetables eventually, but until the crops grew in it was just bowl after bowl of long-stale mac-n-cheese. V didn't know it was possible to hate a food so much that the mere sight of the box made you nauseous, but she was beginning to find out.

When they'd finished their dinner, they figured it was too late to do any more investigating around town and the two headed for the hotel.

The Dugout Inn, being appropriately named, was nestled in one of the old dugouts. It was surprisingly nice inside, with various bits of memorabilia on the walls and lots of seating for the popular bar.

V followed Preston up to the bar, where a man was wiping down the counter with a rag and talking to one of the patrons.

Preston politely waited for the conversation to end until he asked about drinks and a room.

"This is a nice bar, eh? I killed a man for this bar," the man, Vadim, said with a heavy accent. "I kid, I kid. He is dead though. Anyway. What can I get you? We have great moonshine, you should try it."

Preston laughed and ordered them two beers. V was thankful. She'd tried moonshine when she was a dumb teenager looking for trouble and if she thought about it hard enough she could still feel the burn in her throat.

They picked an isolated corner of the room to sit in and sat in silence until V finally worked up the courage to ask about what to do next.

Preston looked down into his glass. "I don't know. I mean, Diamond City's a big place, but asking about missing people around here has never gone too well."

V frowned. "What do you mean?"

Preston sighed. "People here are convinced that this place called the institute comes in in the dead of night and switches their loved ones out with synths."

"Synths?"

"Yeah, you know, synthetic humans. Look just like you and me. Paranoid doesn't describe it. You'll see tomorrow, believe me."

Still confused, V decided that conversation could wait as she stretched her aching legs. All she needed to know now was where to sleep.

* * *

Morning came too early as it seemed to always do in the wasteland. V could feel every muscle in her body protesting as she got up from the couch she'd slept on. She'd insisted Preston take the bed since he'd done the majority of the work yesterday and despite his protests he'd finally accepted after several threats of bodily harm as V lost her patience with his chivalry.

They'd decided on an early start last night so V could visit Piper and do her interview and still have plenty of time to search around Diamond City for answers, but she wished more than anything that should could have slept just one more hour.

On her list of things she missed most about the old world, sleeping in was pretty high up, right next to hot showers and food that wasn't irradiated. She'd always been able to spend her Sundays sleeping in late while Nate took care of Shaun. It was probably the thing she appreciated most about her husband; his ability to recognize when she needed a little break.

Being a stay-at-home mom was fun for the first couple of weeks after Shaun was born, but in a new neighborhood with no friends and no close by family, Verity began to feel isolated cooped up in the house while Nate looked for work. Getting Codsworth had helped a little. At least with the robot butler floating around the house she had someone to talk to while Nate was gone. She felt selfish about it, but she sometimes wished Shaun could grow up faster just to keep his mother company with more than babbles and coos.

Now all V wanted was to hear him again, saying anything. It was hard not to imagine how he was growing in her absence. She'd been out of the vault for nearly a month now and there were so many milestones she was going to miss the longer she was away from her baby.

She couldn't keep thinking about it. It would get her killed. Out in the ruins all it took was being off your guard for one second and just like that, you'd be dead.

She met Preston outside the Dugout Inn after changing into clean underwear and they set off for Piper's office together. The city was quiet as they walked, the only noise coming from the noodle robot and a Mr. Handy that was hovering in front of one of the shops. V began to wonder if Piper was even awake and if it was rude of her to come over without a timestamp on her invitation.

It was those sorts of things she _didn't_ miss about the world before the bombs.

The Publick Occurrences building was already lit up, so V took that as a good sign and knocked on the door. She heard someone stumble over something metallic, a crash, a curse, and then finally the swing of the door as Piper opened it to greet her.

"Didn't think you'd be over so early, Blue," Piper said. Her dark hair was out of the hat V had seen her wear yesterday and the coat and scarf were gone, too. "Enjoying the view?" she said lightly, and V realized with reddened cheeks she'd been staring.

"Sorry, I can come back later if you want?" V said sheepishly.

Piper shook her head. "Don't bother, come on in," she said, ushering V through the door. Preston lagged behind, somewhat awkwardly. "You too, handsome," Piper said with a wink.

V thought she caught the faintest hint of blush under Preston's dark complexion. _I guess Piper just has that effect on people_ , she thought.

Inside, the office was quite nice. It looked like Piper had set up a living space, too, in the loft, and V caught a sleeping figure under the stairs, surrounded by toys. Ignoring the pang in her heart, she joined Preston on the couch when Piper motioned for them both to sit down.

"Coffee?" Piper asked, holding up two slightly cracked mugs.

V sat up a little straighter and for a minute almost felt more like Verity, politely accepting a coffee cup from one of Nate's friends' wives.

"That'd be great," Preston answered for them both.

Piper poured them both a mug and set them on the table before pulling up a chair and sitting directly across from V.

"So Blue," she said, pulling out a notebook and pencil, "What's your story?"

"I've got a question for you, first," V said, taking a sip of the coffee, which was strong but had the familiar tingle of also being slightly irradiated. "Why do you call me Blue?"

Piper laughed. "You're a vault dweller. And you know, the bright blue jumpsuit you're wearing."

V nodded. "I see. Why'd you want to interview me anyway? I don't want to ruin your article, but I don't really know all that much about vault life."

"I just think it's time Diamond City saw an outside perspective, you know. And you aren't trying to tell me you _aren't_ a vault dweller, I mean the pip-boy and the fish-out-of-water look is a dead giveaway."

V almost laughed. "I guess I am a bit out of my element here, but truth be told, my family and I were frozen. I didn't spend much time in the vault."

Piper looked stunned and scrambled for her pencil. "Wait, they boxed you up in a fridge? The whole time? Are you saying you were alive before the war?"

"Behold! I am immortal!" V said, sarcasm practically dripping from her tongue.

Piper chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you kind of are." Then her face lit up like a lightbulb had just gone off in her head and she scribbled something in her notebook and showed it to V. "How about this: 'The Woman out of Time'?"

V shrugged. "Perfect headline."

"So, back to the interview. Now that you've seen the commonwealth, Diamond City. How does it compare to your old life?"

V thought for a moment. It didn't, really. The old world seemed like an alien planet now, or a fairytale. Life now was so much more dangerous, and times were tough but the more she thought about it, the more she realized there was less tension in the air. Before there had been a tightness in everyday life, like you were just supposed to pretend that nuclear war wasn't coming eventually. People were paranoid, constantly turning on each other if there was even a hint they might be a communist.

She supposed Diamond City's fear of synths was similar. That maybe the paranoia had never come from a looming threat, but just from human nature itself.

She finally settled on a simpler answer. "It gives me hope to see people surviving out here, rebuilding from the ground up," she said.

"That's surprisingly inspired, Blue. We're definitely quoting that," Piper said, writing quickly. "Now, the big question. Who is it that you're looking for?"

V felt her heart clench up in her chest and tears well in her eyes. "My baby," she said quietly. "His name is Shaun. He's not even a year old. He was kidnapped."

Piper looked genuinely sorry and Preston put a strong hand on her shoulder.

They were all silent for a moment before Piper continued.

"Do you think the Institute was involved?"

V sighed and ran a hand through her hair shakily. "Maybe. I don't know. I guess it's possible."

"Okay," Piper said, flipping to a new page. "Now for the last part of the interview I want you to make a statement to the city directly. The threat of kidnapping here is all but ignored. Everyone wants to pretend that it isn't happening. What would you say to someone out there who's lost somebody but is too scared or too numb to look for them?"

V thought of the past month. The near death experiences, the fear that never lost its hold on heart, the monsters, the ruin, everything that was wrong with this new world. Then she thought of the people. The people that rebuilt, the people that helped, the people who still cared enough to want their children to have better lives than they did. She didn't really need to think about her answer more than that.

She took a deep breath. "No matter how much you want to give up, don't."

* * *

AN: So I knew as soon as I said I would make a point to update I wouldn't be able to. I apologize for this being a little late and a little on the short side, but I'm a student and my finals are next weeks so I'm swamped right now. Anyway, thanks for reading and a special thank you to anyone that reviewed, followed, or favorited! See you all next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Goodneighbors

She hadn't given up. It had crossed her mind several times in the last few days, but she hadn't given in to the urge to just return to the vault, curl up in front of her husband's body and wait to die.

V and Preston had spent the better part of three days asking around Diamond City about her son, and just like Preston said, there wasn't much information out there, or at least information people were willing to share. She'd gotten a little bit of info from Piper's younger sister, Nat, about a man called Nick Valentine, but in an ironic twist of events, the detective himself was missing.

Valentine's secretary, Ellie, had given them all the information she had on his last known whereabouts, but even with a couple of solid leads, V felt more hopeless than ever.

They'd also started running low on caps, ammo, and general supplies, not to mention V could tell it was driving Preston crazy being stuck in the city when god-knows-what was going on outside the walls of the stadium. She felt guilty for not making her new title as general her first priority every time she caught Preston staring wistfully at the entrance, but between rebuilding the minutemen and finding her son, V was always going to put the most effort into the latter.

It also didn't help that she had made plans to travel to Goodneighbor to find out more on the man Ellie suggested had Valentine, Skinny Malone. Preston was vehemently opposed to the idea and kept trying to talk her out of it, to avail, which put even more pressure on their already strained relationship.

V considered Preston a friend, but the tension got to be too much and one night after a few beers she told him nicely, or as nice as one could say it, to get lost, and because if he wasn't going to help her, she needed to find somebody else.

Preston, though he bore the look of a kicked puppy, was polite as always and insisted she at least take their remaining caps and as much ammo as she could carry before he left for Sanctuary with only his laser musket and a promise that he would still be there if she ever needed it.

After he left she felt an intense guilt, like she'd betrayed him and the minutemen in every way it was possible, but it wasn't her fault he was so damn nice, was it?

She didn't know how he kept it up. Even in the few weeks she'd been out of the Vault, all the violence and cruelty of the wastes had gotten to her. She'd become meaner, more hardened, eager to pull the trigger on anyone who got in her way, though her aim left a lot to be desired.

She felt dangerous, like a bomb just waiting to go off.

V finished her last beer and set it down on the bar before counting out the caps to pay her tab. Even with Preston's extra contribution she was down to 350 to her name, and in Diamond City, that didn't go far.

"You should have kept him," Vadim said with a sigh as he accepted her caps, "The route to Goodneighbor might be very dangerous."

V didn't meet his eye as she got up from the bar. "I might be too."

* * *

Armed with a baseball bat decked in barbed wire, her 10mm pistol, three stimpaks, and a fuck-all attitude, V set out for Goodneighbor the next morning. Vadim had given her some vague directions, which mostly consisted of him telling her not to go at all, but she'd plugged the coordinates into her pip-boy and set off anyway.

 _And the weather is so nice, too,_ she thought bitterly as she tried to shield her pip-boy screen from the rain. Luck hadn't been on her side this morning and as soon as she stepped out of the stadium a downpour had begun.

The first few blocks out of the city hadn't been too bad. V had managed to sneak by what looked like a down-on-it's-luck sort of raider camp, and other than the occasional radroaches skittering past, the coast was all clear.

The ruins of Boston were almost beautiful in the dead stillness of the new world and V suddenly wished she'd explored the city more when it had been intact 200 years ago, as she walked, noting that she'd only been to this part of town once or twice before, to the library. The library building itself seemed mostly intact, only bits of the roof crumbling and a few columns knocked over, but she was learning quickly that out here, a building not totally in ruins was usually already claimed by something… _undesirable_.

There were strange signs in the park next to it, too, all marked 'beware of swan' and if it was dangerous enough to warrant a hastily painted plank in several places, V didn't need to be told twice.

She took the long way around, instead, but whatever dangers the 'swan' in the park possessed, she almost regretted not taking the other route when she heard raiders coming from the fire escape of a decrepit apartment building. V ducked behind an old bus station to check her gun before stepping out of cover, pistol raised like Preston had shown her, just in case they'd already heard her.

When the sound of gunfire and idiotic chatter erupted above her, V knew they had.

There was a moment, where she considered fighting them all off, maybe going out in a blaze of glory and gunfire, but it quickly passed as she was grazed by a bullet on her shoulder, and she made the decision to just run like hell like a total coward, and hope it was enough, holstering her gun and clutching her arm.

She ran block after block in a completely out of breath, lungs burning kind of sprint before she face planted over a downed street light and skidded across the sidewalk, leaving a bloody trail behind her.

When she all but peeled herself off the sidewalk moments later, the raw burning made her believe she didn't have any skin left on her hands and knees. Her nose felt broken, too, gushing blood down her chin onto her chest and mixing with the rain into a pinky-red liquid that stained the front of her vault suit.

V fished her stimpaks out of the pouch strapped to her thigh and injected one in her worst knee, and into each hand, wincing as the flesh knotted itself back together. The rest would have to wait until she got to what she assumed would be the safety of Goodneighbor, which, thankfully, was just ahead if her pip-boy was correct.

So bleeding, limping, cursing, and praying nothing else was planning on attacking her, V found her way through the back alleys until she spotted neon signs and almost collapsed from a mix of blood loss and relief.

The door to the town was heavy when she finally reached it and when it opened she hadn't expected it, and for the second time in this godforsaken day, she'd tripped and landed on her ass.

"First time in Goodneighbor?" A man said above her.

V looked up. "What would give you that idea?" She asked innocently, knowing damn well she looked about as out of place as one could look with her tattered vault suit, pip-boy, and confused expression.

The man snorted and ran a hand over his shaved head. "You know, you can't go walking around without insurance," he said.

V got up from her spot on the pavement and spat out blood. She'd had enough for today. "Unless it's 'keep dumb assholes away from me' insurance, I think I'll pass, but thanks."

His smile faded. "Now come on, don't be like that. I think you're gonna like this insurance."

"I doubt that," V mumbled.

"You're gonna hand over everything you got in your pockets right now, or 'accidents' are gonna start happening to 'ya. Big, bloody, 'accidents'," He said darkly.

V sighed. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm already one big bloody accident, so no."

The man looked like he was about to say something, but another voice interrupted him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, time out."

What V could only describe as a raisin of a man wearing a ridiculous revolutionary outfit and a tri-corn hat approached them, followed by an angry-looking redheaded woman wearing considerable armor.

"I'm in crazy town," V said under her breath as she looked between the three of them.

"Someone new steps through that gate, they're a guest," the man continued. "So lay off that extortion crap."

Her would-be mugger didn't seem too phased. "What do you care, she ain't one of us!"

The other man looked almost disappointed. "No love for your mayor, Finn? I said let her go."

Finn scoffed at the idea. "You're soft, Hancock, you keep letting outsiders walk all over us, one day there'll be a new mayor."

V, not for the first time since she'd left the vault, could not believe what she was seeing. The man who was the mayor, un-ironically calling himself 'Hancock' while wearing an American flag as a sash, was about to fight with a mugger in the middle of a town that, now that she got a look, was filled with other shriveled up people who were now gathering to watch the showdown in broad daylight.

"Come on man, this is me we're talking about," Hancock said, approaching Finn. He put an arm around his shoulders. "Let me tell you something."

V didn't even see the knife before Hancock started stabbing, and couldn't help the subsequent "Oh, shit!" that fell from her lips.

Finn fell without any fight and Hancock wiped the knife off on the dead man's jeans. He shook his head. "Now why'd you have to go and say that, huh? Breaking my heart over here."

Hancock then turned to V. "You alright, sister?"

She sputtered for a moment before she regained enough composure to answer, though it was less than graceful. "Did something happen to your face?"

Completely tactless and absolutely rude, V felt a strong blush creep up on her face, but before she had the chance to apologize Hancock answered.

"Like it? I think it gives me that sexy, king of the zombies kind of look. Big hit with the ladies," he said, winking. "I'm a ghoul, you see. Lots of walking rad freaks around here like me, so you might want to keep the questions on the low burner next time."

V put a hand to her face. "Jesus, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say that."

Hancock smirked. "Don't worry about it. Goodneighbor is 'of the people, for the people', you feel me? Everyone's welcome."

"Of the people, for the people? Oh brother," she said, and, again, immediately regretted it. What was it about the nuclear apocalypse that was making her so rude?

Luckily, it didn't bother the ghoul mayor, and he just laughed. "I can tell I'm going to like you already. Consider this town your home away from home." There was a beat, and his expression changed into something more deadly. "So long as you remember who's in charge."

V swallowed hard. "Sure thing."

With that, Hancock turned and left the small square, disappearing into one of the larger buildings with the redhead not too far behind him.

 _Guess he wasn't kidding about being a hit with the ladies_ , V thought.

The crowd that had gathered around to watch their mayor stab a man to death started to disperse, and V found herself at a loss as to what to do next. From what she'd seen so far, this didn't seem like the kind of town you could ask around about a supposed gangster without getting shanked.

So, she settled on re-supplying instead, and made her way into the little store called 'Daisy's Discounts'.

The inside of the shop was dirty, as everything seemed to be these days, but it looked well-maintained. There was a ghoul behind the counter wiping her hands and V silently hoped her tactless comments with Hancock hadn't been heard by the whole town.

She approached the counter and cleared her throat. "Uh, hi."

The woman looked up. "Oh, a new face walks into my store, and you're not even screaming yet, how polite."

V felt herself blush again.

"I'm Daisy," the woman continued, "If you see anything you like, let me know."

V shifted awkwardly. "Did you say people scream at you?"

"That's right. Some newcomers have never seen a ghoul before." She snorted. "Can't handle a friendly face, that's what I say."

"What's it like?" V asked before she could catch herself. God, this day wasn't turning out.

"Being a ghoul? Well, it's a lot worse when people ask you about it all the time, but I suppose I can't blame them for being curious," Daisy answered. "But on the upside, I think I look pretty good for 220."

"You're 220 years old?"

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay, more like 270, but don't go telling anyone that. When you're a ghoul you live a long time. You stop counting birthdays. Do you know what it's like being that old?"

V shrugged. "Kind of, yeah."

Daisy chuckled. "Well now you're just making fun of me. If you were as old as I was, that'd mean you've been around since before the war."

"You got it," V said lightly.

"Well then, come on, let's hear it. Tell me what the world was like before the war."

She sighed. "Well, it was mostly the same, really. But there's a lot more rust now, oh, and I think the chances of getting shot walking around the financial district were a lot slimmer."

Daisy smiled wistfully, like she was thinking of something else. "I think you're about right. Now, either you're the best preserved ghoul I've ever seen, or the second-best bullshitter in Goodneighbor."

V smiled. "I swear it's true," she said.

Daisy snorted again. "Well whatever the case, if you haven't already you should stop by the hotel, there's another pre-war ghoul in there. Maybe we can get a second opinion. Now, back to business, you here to buy?"

A stimpak, some clean bandages, and several clips later, V was broke, down to her last 200 caps, but feeling much better.

After she'd patched herself up on the bench in the plaza, Daisy came and sat down next to her and lit a cigarette.

"Don't take this the wrong way, hon, but it looks to me like you don't know what the hell you're doing out here."

V suddenly felt like she wanted to cry, but tried to hide the waver in her voice. "How can you tell?"

Daisy chuckled and took a long drag. "The vault suit, the blood, the fact that your only weapons are a pistol and a swatter, I could go on. What could you possibly be doing here all on your own?"

V looked down at her boots. "It's a long story," she said, finally.

Daisy dug another cigarette out of her pack and offered it to her. "I've got time."

V accepted gratefully and took several drags before she started her story, blowing smoke up towards the sky.

"I'm looking for my son. He was kidnapped. From-," she paused, trying to think of a way to put it. "From our vault. He's only a baby, not even a year old. I went and asked around Diamond City, but nobody really had anything for me. I got a lead on a man named Nick Valentine, but turns out he's missing too."

Daisy shook her head. "I know about Nick. What a shame."

V took another shaky drag. "His secretary said he went after a guy called Skinny Malone, some kind of gangster, and that his hideout was in one of the metro tunnels around Goodneighbor. I, uh, figured I wasn't going to be able to go in blind, so I thought I'd come over here, ask around. Now I see it's not that kind of town."

"Sounds like you could use a little help," Daisy said, taking a final puff and snuffing out the smoke under her shoe.

"A little would be an understatement," V mumbled.

Daisy stood up. "Tell you what, go talk to MacCready down at the Third Rail. He's a merc, but I think you need all the help you can get if you're going to go after Skinny Malone."

V finished her own cigarette. "Thanks Daisy. I don't think you know how much it means to me."

Daisy patted her on the shoulder, like an old friend, and smiled. "You can thank me later."

* * *

AN: Man, I am so sorry this took so long. But the good news is I'm on break now, so I'll have lots of time to write! As usual, thank you to everyone for reading, and a special thanks for anyone who followed, favorited, or reviewed!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Metro Station Blues

The Third Rail, was, to put it mildly, a shithole. V had been in a lot of sleazy bars in her life, especially during her college years, but something about the way the patrons moved and the atmosphere seemed a little… off. It also could have been the stabbing she'd just witnessed yesterday, but V didn't feel all that safe.

That pretty much summed up her time in Goodneighbor thus far. Unsafe. She hated to admit it, but Daisy was right. She needed someone watching her back because she sure as hell couldn't do it herself.

She at least felt cleaner, though, having washed all the blood off of her body and spot-cleaned her vault suit, though it was still full of bullet holes, stained, and worn threadbare where she had skidded on the sidewalk the day before.

V was sure she was a sight to behold. Messy, but now clean hair covering her eyes, a crooked nose, scratches, burns, bullet wounds, and just about any other injury that left a mark covering her body. She felt like Frankenstein's monster, being held together with barely-sanitized thread and stimpaks. Pain was just a part of her life now, and she didn't even feel an ache as she limped down the stairs to the bar to ask about the mercenary Daisy had been talking about, MacCready.

She didn't even make it there before a ghoul sitting at a table gave her directions.

"You looking for MacCready too? He's in the back room."

V raised an eyebrow but went off in the direction the woman pointed.

Whatever situation she had been expecting, this was not it.

MacCready, or at least who she assumed was MacCready, was blocked from her view by two men who were armed and pissed. The conversation sounded heated, and not for the first time, she decided she didn't need the trouble and backed around the corner until the two men brushed passed her, both mumbling angrily.

V took a deep breath and stepped into the room.

MacCready was not at all what she expected. He looked young, maybe even younger than her, skinny, and completely unphased by the threats on his life. He was just sitting there on the couch, leaned back, smoking a cigarette.

He noticed her immediately and stood up. "Look lady, if you're here preaching about Atom or looking for a friend, you've got the wrong guy. If you need a hired gun, then let's talk."

V smiled. "Let's."

She sat on the couch and he followed suit.

It was awkwardly silent for a moment and V remembered she was supposed to be doing the talking.

"So uh, who were those guys?" She blurted, cursing whatever it was in Goodneighbor that was making her so loose-lipped.

MacCready sighed before he answered. "Just a couple of morons from the Gunners."

V raised an eyebrow. "Gunners?"

"Yeah, one of the biggest gangs in the Commonwealth, got a rep for being crazy. You know, so tightly wound you'd think they were a cult or something," he said, putting out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray. "I was with them for a while because the money was good, but didn't really fit in, so I left. But what about you, you interested?"

"Yeah. I need someone to watch my back. I've got to find this detective and I, uh, can't do it alone," she answered.

"Okay, but how do I know I won't end up with a bullet in my back?"

V almost laughed. The thought of sabotaging anyone in her state was ridiculous. "Look at me. I'm pretty sure I'm not getting the jump on anyone."

She saw MacCready's mouth twitch before he replied. "Probably not. I'll tell you what, price is 250 caps, up front, no bargaining."

V sighed. That was the last of the money. "200?"

He considered it. "Didn't I just say I wasn't bargaining?"

She shrugged. "Everything is negotiable. And I've got 200 caps to my name. Deal or no deal?"

MacCready looked almost like he was about to say no. She wouldn't have blamed him. Being employed to a broke vault-dweller was probably not any merc's dream job.

"Fine. You drive a hard bargain, but 200 caps it is."

She grinned, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the pouch she'd been keeping her money in. "Always worth a shot," she said, tossing him the pouch. "There's 200."

He didn't bother to count it, just slung a nearby rifle over his back and strode towards the hallway. "Alright, boss. Let's get out of here."

They made their way out into the town, afternoon sun glaring down on them. V had desperately missed sunscreen in the last couple of weeks, and made a mental note to look for some if she ever got around to scavenging.

With exactly 4 caps she'd found in odd pockets to her name, the thought had crossed her mind more than once. It wasn't like she was going to get a job out in the wasteland with a resume that consisted of law school and homemaking.

They walked in silence very briefly before MacCready spoke up. "So where exactly is this detective friend of yours?"

V bit her lip. "He's been kidnapped. I have it on good authority that he's being held in a metro tunnel near here," she said, skipping over anything she thought she could. "And he's not my friend. I've never even met him."

MacCready looked confused. "So you've never met the guy, but you're gonna rescue him anyway? Let me guess, just for kicks?"

"Yeah, not exactly," she said, as the rounded the corner to where the gate was.

Finn's body hadn't been moved at all, still sitting in a pool of blood in the middle of the plaza.

"Damn. When'd that happen?" MacCready said, moving closer to see who it was.

"Yesterday," V answered, trying to sound casual. "Hancock stabbed him."

MacCready laughed a little. "Man, I've got to get out more. You know what he did?"

"Who, Finn?"

MacCready nodded.

"He threatened me, actually. And you know, disrespected the mayor. The usual grounds for stabbing one of your citizens to death in broad daylight," she explained.

"Yeah, that sounds like Goodneighbor," he said, and then she watched in disgust as he looted the body. There were some things she'd never get used to. "There's some good shi- stuff on here, surprised no one's taken it."

He tossed her a pipe pistol, some .38 rounds, and two boxes of mentats.

"You should sell these," he said, dusting off his knees as he got up. "Consider it a gift."

V looked toward Daisy's store. "Uh, thanks."

"I'll be honest with you, boss, I'd buy a new outfit."

"What, torn vault suits aren't in this season?" she said, looking down at the offending garment.

MacCready snorted. "Well yeah, but you look like a walking target. And judging by that," he said, gesturing to the bullet holes in her shoulder, "not just in theory, either."

V figured he was probably right, so they stopped in at Daisy's and bartered all of Finn's worldly possessions for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that were about her size a leather jacket that was definitely not.

She changed in the back room and admired her new outfit in the mirror, making a few last touches, tucking her jeans into her boots and rolling up the sleeves of the jacket so they didn't hang past her fingertips. The whole ensemble looked a little ridiculous when she finally strapped on her holsters and pieces of leather armor, but she did admit it was an upgrade.

She stepped out and found MacCready leaning against the stairwell, idly tapping his fingers on the banister.

V gave a little twirl. "More inconspicuous?"

MacCready rolled his eyes. "Sure."

She did one final check to make sure her gun was holstered properly and that the baseball bat strapped to her back wasn't going to fall before she fell in step beside MacCready and they walked towards the gate.

"Ready to go?" he asked, pausing at the gate.

She'd never been happier to leave a town in her life. "Yeah, let's get out of here."

* * *

With MacCready with her, V felt a little safer, but not by much as they walked out into the mutant-infested streets of Boston. Every little noise made her jump and grapple for her bat, which MacCready immediately took notice of.

"You're not from around here, are you?" He said after a particular loud bang that had her running for cover.

V pushed the hair out of her eyes. "What made you guess that? My obvious lack of combat experience or my clean nails?"

He laughed. "Definitely the nails. Seriously though, the whole dam- dang world is irradiated to hell and back, where did you live that wasn't dangerous?"

V wasn't about to spring the whole 'I'm over 200 years old and pre-war' thing on him yet, for fear the merc might just take her caps and go, so she just laughed nervously.

"Very far away from here. What about you, are you a Boston native?"

MacCready seemed equally good a dodging questions and just replied with a short 'no'.

They continued on to Park Street Station in a relatively comfortable silence, and V was thankful that they hadn't run into any super mutants or raiders on their way.

V glanced down at her pip-boy and back up at the entrance to the metro. "This is it," she said, taking her pistol out of her holster with shaky hands and making her way down the stairs.

MacCready was right behind her and she silently prayed that whatever was inside the station wouldn't be opposed to just leaving her the hell alone.

She opened the door as quietly as she could and peeked inside. The stairway down into the metro was clear, at least, but she could hear people talking further inside.

"Malone's gone soft, did you see how he handled that detective?"

"Don't tell his new girl that, she'll take off your head with that bat of hers!"

V looked at MacCready, who had a rather sour expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

"You didn't tell me your friend was being held by Skinny Malone," he hissed.

V at least had the good grace to look sheepish. "Would you have still come?"

"Good point," MacCready said, and motioned for her to follow him down the stairs.

"We could try talking to them," V said, and the following 'it might work' died on her tongue when she saw his expression.

He shook his head. "No way. The Triggermen aren't really into talking."

V sighed, defeated and they each took up a position on each side of the door into the station lobby. MacCready was mouthing things at her and using hand signals she didn't understand, but she nodded anyway when he began a silent countdown.

They both burst from cover at the same time, guns drawn, and evidently surprised the Triggermen standing guard, MacCready taking them both down easily with clean shots to the head.

V hadn't even pulled the trigger once but supposed she liked it better that way and mimicked the merc as he looted one of the bodies for anything useful.

He tossed her a box of .45 rounds and a stimpak and she stored them along with her own loot in her thigh pouch.

They kept going further into the metro, walking as silently as possible, and when they reached the stairwell MacCready picked off three Triggermen before they'd even known anyone was there. V blindly shot at the rest clumsily, all the confidence she'd had a week ago killing raiders completely gone as she eyed the sub-machine guns most of the Triggermen carried.

"Jesus, have you ever been in a firefight before?" MacCready yelled over his shoulder to V, who was rather shamefully taking cover from the hail of bullets.

"Not many," V mumbled, once again stumbling to reload her 10mm with shaking hands.

"I guess you're going to have to learn the hard way, then," he said as he ducked out from behind the column he had been taking cover behind.

V took a breath and readied herself to face the gunfire. "You can say that again."

She raised her gun and aimed carefully at one of the ghouls focused on MacCready. She squeezed the trigger and watched as the bullet hit pretty close to its intended target, getting the man square in the knee.

V fired off several more shots, most of which missed, before the tunnel was finally silent and she got up from her spot behind the remnants of a metro door and went to find MacCready.

He was leaning up against the wall on the other side of the tunnel, breathing heavily and clutching his side.

V's smile faded as she got closer and saw blood.

"Shit," she said, jogging over to him and pulling out a stimpak, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have dragged you down here."

He shook his head. "Barely a scratch."

She didn't believe him as he took the stimpak from her and winced as he injected it into the wound.

"Seriously, I've had way worse," he said, throwing the empty needle to the ground and kicking it out of the way with his boot. "I should know better anyway, you vault dwellers are always trouble."

V laughed nervously. "What makes you think I'm from a vault?"

MacCready snorted. "Well the vault suit, for one, and the fact you're saving some guy you don't even know from the wrath of Skinny Malone. People in the wasteland don't do that sort of thing unless they're getting paid, which, unless you're holding out on me, we're not."

V holstered her pistol. "You've got a point. But I wouldn't really say I'm much of a vault dweller."

He moved from his spot on the wall and looked down further into the tunnel. "Well whatever you are, let's get moving. There's probably more down there."

V sighed. "There always are."

* * *

AN: Hey there! I hope you all had a happy holdiay if you celebrate one, and I apologize that once again, this took so long but I didn't have power for several days so when my laptop died I couldn't really write anymore. Anyway, as always thanks to anyone who followed or favorited, and see you in the next chapter!


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